The estate of the Dukes of Willowvale was a vast, sprawling castle complex that had stood for centuries. With its oldest portions, serving as the primary residence of the ducal family inside the vast estate. This central cluster consisted of a grand great hall flanked by six large towers. All of it built in the Dukofic style(1300-1100 PTAK) with its tall pointed arches, narrow lancet windows, and large horseshoe shaped archways lined with intricate geometric stonework. The towers rose like guardians surrounding the keep as eternal sentries. Their upper levels were ringed with carved wooden balconies and latticed screens that filtered sunlight into patterned gold across their interiors.

  Connected to this ancient core were several newer wings and auxiliary residences constructed in the Herotic style(600-400 PTAK). The newer buildings managed somehow to not contrast with the more elegant and simpler Dukofic great hall, despite their baroque ostentatiousness. With sweeping columned porticos, gilded cornices, and many curved fa?ades adorned with sculpted cherubs and dramatic reliefs. Their tall arched windows allowed the sun to pour in like molten copper, illuminating the many frescoed ceilings and polished marble floors.

  A few historians even claimed that the foundations beneath the great hall were first laid more than fifteen hundred years ago, during the reign of Cosma the Great, the first King of Old Tiondo. A great warrior and hero who was later revered as a god. Though the worship of the old gods had increasingly become taboo in the Empire.

  In the ancient days before the Empire, Willowvale had been one of the region’s most formidable fortresses with a commanding position of the surrounding terrain. In the fortress’s prime, the great complex had bristled with soldiers and knights, standing as a powerful bulwark against orc warbands sweeping down from the old eastern frontier, monster surges boiling up from untamed dungeons, and the ever-shifting borders of the quarrelsome pre-imperial kingdoms.

  Its walls were said to be mile long if stretched in a continuous straight line and thick enough to shrug off most siege fireballs. It was even rumored to be capable of withstanding the mythical cannons of the First Empress; though sadly fate had never tested that boast. Now, however, the once-great fortress had gradually slipped into a state of dignified disuse. The Empire’s unification had brought peace, prosperity, and a well-funded network of professional patrols by the imperial legions. Nobles who had once measured their prestige by the size of their armies now turned their attention toward somewhat less bloody pursuits.

  At least from the perspective of the common folk who no longer had participate in the nobility's petty schemes for power. Thus, after a hundred years of relative stability, Willowvale had transformed from a martial stronghold into a well-maintained relic of a bygone age, which once held a force numbered in the thousands, but now scarcely held two hundred and fifty armed men. These days, the garrison mostly patrolled provincial roads for bandits and highwaymen or enforced law and order in the remote villages of the ducal province.

  Yet unlike many minor nobles across the Empire, the Duke of Willowvale was not suffering from the financial strain that peace had inflicted upon the other traditional noble houses. His father had been a shrewd and canny investor, pouring the ducal treasury into mercantile companies, shipping ventures, and profitable real estate holdings. He had also possessed an uncanny instinct for the new stock market as well, deftly avoiding several disastrous economic bubbles, like the famous West Ocean Fishing Bubble, which had ruined dozens of lesser lords. In addition to the success on the battlefield of commerce, prosperity had also come through the expansion of the ducal lands.

  After the Empire annexed the old Kingdom of Herigon, Eleonora’s great-great-grandfather; who had seen which way the proverbial winds were blowing; had defected early to the empire. Which had secured him many favors with the empire and as a result, the Duchy of Willowvale absorbed large swaths of the former Herigon kingdom including its old capital, Hagian. It was thanks to that fortuitous foresight, the Duana family remained comfortably wealthy even as other noble houses grumbled about their shrinking profits and being always in the red.

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  However, none of that was of course on Eleonora's mind and probably had never been on her mind. No, her mind was on a much more urgent mission. The kind of mission that could make or dramatically delay the beginning of any true knight’s glorious career. She had to get to the stables and retrieve her horse, the absolutely fabulous Lady Sparkles. In fact she wondered if this counted as her first quest. “Probably, maybe, yes, most definitely like yes”, she thought. All Knights after all always had to have their noble steeds. Eleonora then paused mid-stride, almost causing Isadora to slam into her.

  As she pondered whether she was striding forth with the right amount of knightly purpose. After some gentle prompting from Isadora, she began walking again, but more dramatically and with greater determination towards the stables.

  But who was any one kidding, what should have been a rather quick trip across the massive manor turned into a very long one because Eleonora couldn't, never ever, not resist getting side tracked and wandering off, which Eleonora most certainly did practically within minutes of setting off once more. First, she darted toward Hadina, a kitchen servant carrying a basket of fresh herbs on some urgent errand for the kitchens which were operated 24/7 day and night to supply the manors staff, garrison, and the ducal family.

  Eleonora immediately launched into an enthusiastic greeting that sounded suspiciously like it might turn into a twenty-minute conversation about which herbs smelled best and tasted great with the right soups. It was with great relief on Hadina's part that Isadora appeared behind Eleonora like a silent wraith, gripped her lady’s shoulder, and gently steered her away before the poor woman was forced to discuss some herb like lovage or worse yet have to listen to one of Eleonora's harebrained ideas/notions. Next came Phil the gardener, who was trimming a hedge so that it would look like a fearsome dragon.

  Eleonora waved at him with so much exuberance that he nearly dropped his shears in sheer terror. Phil attempted to smile, though his expression very clearly translated to; "please for the love of all that is holy, keep her moving, Isadora, I beg of you" however before he could duck behind the hedge for safety, Eleonora began to say, " oh that's like a cool wyvern, oh wait it's a dra..." She was interrupted by Isadora gently but firmly turning her so she faced away from phil and instead faced towards the stables again. Much to Phil's relief as he seized the opportunity and scampered out of sight.

  The worst distraction came when Eleonora spotted a spectacularly shiny beetle on a sunlit windowsill. She gasped as though beholding a magical artifact. “Isadora! Look! It’s shimmering! It looks like it's wearing armor!” just like a knight" she declared, crouching down and squinting at it with intense scholarly focus. It was only after Isadora informed Eleonora that beetles couldn't be knights that they were able to move on.

  But each time, whether it was rescuing other servants, gardeners, or innocent insects in their path from Eleonora's exuberance, Isadora was there. With the precision of a seasoned combat veteran and maid, not to mention the somewhat blasphemous ability of having the patience to rival the saints. Isadora gently nudged, guided, redirected, and occasionally outright hauled Eleonora back onto the correct path to the stables.

  And so, inch by inch, distraction by distraction, the grand journey to the stables continued. “Remember to stay focused, my lady,” Isadora murmured for what had to be the ninth or tenth time. As Eleonora got distracted by a potted fern along the current path whose leaves looked a bit weird to Eleonora. “I am focused!” she insisted, while marching proudly down the hallway. “This is like totally the focus of a knight!” she loudly proclaimed.

  “With all respect, my lady, knights do not normally stop mid-march to inspect a potted fern.” “That fern looked like it was totally like uh...strange.” Eleonora eloquently and loquaciously stated. This was followed by her boldly declaring " it could have totally been like a evil plant monster or like something". Isadora sighed before admitting defeat and scanning for the next possible distraction with unfortunate practiced ease.